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CHAPTER TWO. THE DATA ABOUT SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE’S LIFE AND WRITINGS
2.1. Short information about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s life
Arthur Conan Doyle (Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle) was a medical doctor and British poet, novelist, and short-story writer. In 1887, he published A Study in Scarlet and created a character of Sherlock Holmes. A Study of Scarlet is his first novel of four novels and many short stories that he wrote about Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes. In the genre of crime fiction, the stories of Sherlock Holmes are regarded as the milestone.
Arthur Canon Doyle was a creative writer. Apart from Holmes series, he also wrote about science fiction and fantasy about Prof. Challenger and comical stories about Brigadier Gerard, the Napoleonic soldier. He also wrote romances, plays, poetry, and historical and non-fictional novels. The early short story of “J, Habakuk Jephson’s Statement,” published in 1884 assisted in propagating the mystery of the Mary Celeste.
Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22nd May 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a wealthy and strict Irish-Catholic family. In the world of art, the family of Doyle was well-respected. Doyle’s father, Charles, was a life-long alcoholic and only had published a few works. The mother of Doyle Mary was an educated mother who had read a lot. She would narrate outlandish stories with great enthusiasm and animation to her young son, which sparked his imagination with the spinning wild tales. In his biography, Arthur Conan Doyle writes: “In my early childhood, as far as I can remember anything at all, the vivid stories she would tell me to stand out so clearly that they obscure the real facts of my life.”
His early life was marked with uncertainty. His family split apart in 1864 due to his father Charles’ increasing alcoholism. After separation, children lived in low-income housing across the city; however, in 1867, the family reunited, and they lived together again in the Sciennes neighborhood. Over there, Arthur was the head of a Catholic street gang.
In 1868, Doyle left his parents and went to England to attend a Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place in Stonyhurst. He attended school until 1870. After passing out of school, for the next five years, he went to Stonyhurst College. The boarding-school experience for Arthur Conan Doyle was not pleasant. He was bullied by his classmates. The school had ruthless punishments for the mischiefs of students. With time, Doyle started finding comfort in his storytelling talent and established his own audience of young student readers.
In 1876, Doyle graduated from the college, and his parents expected him to study art by following the footsteps of family. However, they were surprised when Doyle decided upon studying medicine from the University of Edinburgh. At university, Doyle encountered Professor Dr. Joseph Bell, who later turned out to be his mentor. It was the keen observational power of Prof. Dr. Joseph Bell that inspired Arthur to create Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective character.
It was at the University of Edinburgh that Doyle met his classmates who also turned to his future friends and authors Robert Louis Stevenson and James Barrie. Though Doyle was a medical student, he attempted to write his first story, “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley,” during his medical years. The story was followed by another short story, “The American Tale.” “The American Tale” was later published in the journal London Society.
When Doyle was in the third year of medical, he took the post of ship surgeon on a ship navigating for the Arctic Circle. Doyle’s sense of adventure was awakened with this voyage. He also incorporated this feeling in his story “Caption of the Pole Star.
Doyle went back to medical school in 1880. In the university, Arthur became interested in Spiritualism and invested his great time in studying it. He also attempted to spread the spiritual beliefs in his written works as well. In 1881, he completed his study and received his Bachelor of Medicine degree. At the same time, he also denounced his Roman Catholic faith.
Doyle was appointed as a medical officer abroad in a steamship, Mayumba, that was traveling to Africa from Liverpool. When his time of Mayumba ended, he settled in England for a short time. When his money was about to end, he went to Portsmouth and opened his own clinic. The next few years of his life were spent in a struggle to balance a growing career in the field of medicine and his fame as an author. Later, Doyle gave up his medical career and devoted his life to his faith and writing.
In 1885, Doyle married his first wife, Louise Hawkins. The couple lived in Upper Wimpole Street and had two children. His wife died due to tuberculosis in 1906. Doyle married again to Jean Leakie and had three more children.
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